| TO: | Honorable John T. Smithee, Chair, House Committee on Insurance |
| FROM: | John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
| IN RE: | HB1757 by Smithee (Relating to rate filing and rate rollbacks for professional liability insurance for physicians and health care providers.), As Introduced |
The bill would add a new article to the Insurance Code relating to rate rollbacks for professional medical liability insurance. The bill would authorize the Commissioner of Insurance to require information in rate filings, special data calls, information meetings, and other means. It would also grant the Commissioner authority to disapprove of rates filed that fail to reflect an ordered rate reduction and it would grant the Commissioner certain leeway in situations where compliance would work a hardship on the insurer.
According to the Comptroller of Public Accounts, the proposed rate rollback may exert some downward pressure on individual premiums and insurance premium tax collections. However, the Comptroller of Public Accounts assumes the rate rollback would promote insurance availability and reduce incentives for taking higher deductibles which would offset potential reductions in premiums and insurance premiums tax collections.
| Source Agencies: | 304 Comptroller Of Public Accounts, 454 Department Of Insurance
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| LBB Staff: | JK, JO, RB, DLBe, JRO, RT
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